Aleut mortuary practices. Re-interpretation of established Aleut burial customs

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Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA, and Research Associate, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution,

Domus Medica, Egilsgata

Aleut mortuary practices. Re-interpretation of established Aleut burial customs

B. Frohlich M.A., PhD in Biological Anthropology, Visiting Professor,

D. R. Hunt M. A., PhD in Biological/Forensic

Anthropology, Collection Manager,

J. Birna M. A., MD in Radiology

Reykjavik; Washington

Annotation

The Unangan/Aleut people have lived in the Aleutian Islands for more than 9,000 years. About 250 years ago this unique and successful balance between nature and man was disturbed to such a degree, that the Unangan people almost became extinct. Russian fur hunters and traders (promyshlenniks) killed, annihilated, raped, introduced new diseases (leprosy, smallpox, syphilis and consumption (tuberculosis)), and forcefully displaced Unangan people for the purpose of promoting their fur business. This resulted in major declines in the Unangan population size. It is estimated that an original population of more than 15,000 people in 1741 (time of arrival of Russians in the Aleutian Islands) to less than 2000 in 1800. This drastic reduction in the population size and increasing Russian control did not result in a thoroughly eradication of the Unangans' culture and spiritual belief. Also, it is doubtful that the Russian Orthodox Church had much control over the Unangans' spiritual activities, as previously suggested by the church's records. Our research, based on the historical record, archaeological excavations and particularly on the reconstruction of the traditional mortuary practices, strongly support our present hypothesis that the Unangans' devotion to their traditional spirituality was well established and operational at any given time, including: -- after the arrival of the promyshlenniks (1741), -- after the establishment of the Russian American Company (1799), -- after the introduction of the Russian Orthodox Church (ca. 1800), -- after the sale of Russian America to the USA in 1867, -- and most likely well into the 20t^h century.

Keywords: Aleutian Islands, mortuary practices, spirituality, mummification, reconstruction, Chaluka.

Аннотация

Алеутские погребальные практики: переосмысление сложившейся алеутской погребальной обрядности

Б. Фролек магистр, д-р философии (физическая антропология), приглашенный профессор, Дартмутский колледж, США, Нью-Хэмпшир, Гановер, научный сотрудник, Национальный музей естественной истории, Смитсоновский институт, США, Округ Колумбия, Вашингтон

Д. Р. Хант магистр, д-р философии (физическая антропология и судебная медицинская экспертиза), куратор коллекций отдела антропологии Национального музея естественной истории, Смитсоновский институт, США, Округ Колумбия, Вашингтон

Й. Бирна магистр, д-р медицины (радиология), Датский центр медицинских исследований, Исландия, Рейкьявик

Коренное население Алеутских островов (народ унанган, более известный как алеуты) на своих территориях проживало на протяжении более 9000 лет. Около 250 лет назад этот уникальный баланс между природой и человеком оказался в значительной степени нарушен, в результате чего коренные обитатели островов практически исчезли. Численность унанганского населения резко сократилась в результате недружественной деятельности российских промышленников (убийства, насилие, распространение инфекционных заболеваний, таких как оспа, проказа, сифилис, туберкулез) и насильственного переселения алеутов с целью повышения эффективности и доходности пушного промысла. Считается, что население островов, составлявшее на момент прихода русских в 1741 г. около 15 000 человек, к 1800 г. насчитывало менее двух тысяч. Резкое сокращение численности народонаселения и управление различными сторонами его жизни, осуществлявшееся российской администрацией, все же не привели к полному уничтожению культуры унанганов и особенностей их духовной жизни. Русская Православная церковь осуществляла христианизацию местного населения, однако имеются сомнения в том, что воздействие этого процесса на духовность унанганов было существенным (в то же время, подобные утверждения встречаются в церковных архивах). Выводы нашего исследования, основанные на исторических данных, результатах археологических раскопок, и, в особенности, на реконструкции погребальной обрядности, подтверждают ранее высказанную авторами гипотезу о том, что приверженность унанганцев их традиционной духовности была хорошо выражена и последовательно практиковалась во все времена на протяжении последних 250 лет -- после прихода промышленников (1741), после создания Русско-Американской Компании (1799), после появления русской православной миссии (около 1800) и после продажи Русской Америки Североамериканским Соединенным Штатам в 1867 г. Скорее всего, традиция не прекращалась и в XX столетии.

Ключевые слова: Алеутские острова, погребальный обряд, духовность, мумификация, реконструкция, Чалука.

Introduction

The Unangan/Aleut people have lived in the Aleutian Islands for more than years. About 250 years ago, this unique balance between nature and man was disturbed to such a degree that the Unangan people were almost annihilated. The Russian conquest of the Aleutian Islands and other geographical areas in what we today know as the State of Alaska was powered by relentless greed and demand for fur products. In less than 60 years the uncontrolled activities of promyshlenniks (fur hunters) resulted in an eighty-five percent reduction of the Unangan population. Additionally, the delicate ecological balance between man and his environment was severely disturbed by the excessive overexploitation of marine mammals.

Russian records, including those of Ivan Veniaminov Veniaminov I. Notes on the Islands of the Unalaska Division. 80, vol. 3. St. Petersburg. 1840. (cited by: Hrdlicka A. The Aleutian and Commander Islands and their Inhabitants. The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology. Philadelphia, 1945. Reprinted by the Limestone Press, 1984)., tend to emphasize the success of Russian political, physical, cultural, social and spiritual power resulting in an almost complete conversion of the Unangan people to Russian traditions. Until recently it has been unclear how effective the Russians and later the Americans were in converting the Unangan people from their traditional way of living and especially in making them abolish their traditional spirituality. Needless to say that little is found in the ethnographic records, which for the most part derives from Russian hunters, administrators and clergy. Granted, a rich and wonderful amount of information is found in many sources including those of Ivan Veniaminov Veniaminov I. Notes on the Islands of the Unalaska Division. and George Steller Steller George W Reise von Kamtschatka nach Amerika mit dem Commandeur-Kapitan Bering. St. Petersburg, 1793. (cited by: Jochelson W History, Ethnology and Anthropology of the Aleut. The Carnegie Institution Washington. Washington, 1933. P. 18). (1793), but all tend to ignore the possibility that the Russians did not have full control over the Unangan people Berreman G. D. Aleut Shamanism in the twentieth Century? An Assessment of Evidence // To the Aleutian and Beyond. The Anthropology of William S. Laughlin / eds B. Frohlich, A. B. Harper, R. Gilberg. Copenhagen, 2002. P. 25-50. (Publications of The National Museum. Ethnographical Series, Vol. 20)..

The archaeological record is helping us to understand the historical record and the extent to which such records can be trusted. Burial records are especially important. Without burial records we significantly limit our ability to reconstruct historical and pre-his- torical events.

Our work on burial practices is based on the study of existing records, as well as on modern research on human remains still in our collections (as of 2002).

We use only nondestructive and noninvasive methods. Thus, technologies such as x-ray, photography, and computed tomography (CT) are used to explore and study the remains. If tissue sampling is required and permitted, CT scanning allows directed removal of minute samples for analytical purposes.

Our data, interpretations, and results have been combined with records from archaeological surveys, excavations and the ethnographical record. Not only does combining all available resources allow us to obtain a much better understanding of Unangan burial practices, but it also enables to evaluate the various records in terms of accuracy.

We hypothesize that Unangan traditions and spirituality continued long after the arrival of the Russians in 1741 and the Americans in 1867. Indeed, traditional Unangan burial practices and the practice of Unangan spirituality most likely continued well into the 20^th century. It was not significantly replaced by Russian and American traditions and culture until more efficient travel and communication procedures became available with the arrival of fossil fueled ships, radio communication, organized education, and with easier opportunities for the Unangan people to travel and communicate with the “outside world”.

Unangan Mortuary Practices

The very sparse knowledge available today about Unangan mortuary practices is based on recorded observation by Russian explorers, hunters (promyshlenniks), administrators and clergy men, a few late 19 ^th -- and early 20 ^th -- century excavations, and the more recent collection of burial artifacts and human remains from settlement excavations, caves and rock shelters Aigner J. S., Veltre D. W. The Distribution and Pattern of Umqan Burial on Southwest Umnak Island // Arctic Anthropology. Vol. XIII (2). 1976. P 113-127; Aigner J. S., Veltre D. W., Fullem B., Veltre M. An Infant Umqan Burial from Southwest Umnak Island // Arctic Anthropology. Vol. XIII (2). 1976. P 128-131; Cook J. A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean Undertaken, by the Command of His Majesty, for making Discoveries in the Northern Hemisphere. G. Nicol, Bookseller to His Majesty, in the Strand; and T. Cadell, in the Strand, London, 1785. P. 519; Coxe W Account of the Russian Discoveries Between Asia and America to Which Are Added the Conquest of Siberia and the History of the Transactions and Commerce Between Russia and China. 4^th enl. London, 1780. P 154-155, 173; Dall W: 1) Notes on the Pre-Historic Remains in the Aleutian Islands // Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences IV (1868-1872). San Francisco, 1873. P 284-286; 2) On Succession in the Shell-Heaps of the Aleutian Islands // Contributions to North American Ethnology. Washington, 1877. P 62-71, 84; 3) On the Remains of Later Pre-Historic Man obtained from Caves in the Catherina Archipelago, Alaska Territory, and especially from the Caves of the Aleutian Islands. Smithsonian Institution. Washington City, 1878. P 5-8; Hrdlicka A.: 1) Exploration of Mummy Caves in the Aleutian Islands. Part I. Previous Knowledge of such Caves. Vol. 52. January. 1941. P 5-23; 2) Exploration of Mummy Caves in the Aleutian Islands. Part II. Further Exploration. Vol. 52. January 1941. P 113-130; 3) The Aleutian and Commander Islands and their Inhabitants. The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology. Philadelphia, 1945. P 178-194; Jochelson W. Archaeological Investigations in the Aleutian Islands. The Carnegie Institution of Washington. Washington, 1925. P. 44-52; Laughlin W.: 1) Aleuts: Survivors of the Bering Land Bridge. Holt, Rinehart and Winston. New York, 1980. P 89, 96-103; 2) Aleut Mummies: Their Significance for Longevity and Culture // Cultures of the Bering Sea Region: Papers from an International Symposium. IREX, New York, 1983. P 41-44; Laughlin W., Gordon H. The Lamellar Flake Manufacturing Site on Anangula Island in the Aleutians // American Antiquity. 1954. Vol. XX (1). P 28-29; McCartney A. Prehistory of the Aleutian Region // Arctic. Handbook of North American Indians. Vol. V. Washington, 1984. P 131; Sarychev G. Account of a Voyage of Discovery to the North-East of Siberia, the Frozen Ocean, and the North-East Sea. London, 1807. P 77-78; Sauer M. An Account of a Geographical and Astronomical Expedition to the Northern Parts of Russia for Ascertaining the Degrees of Latitude and Longitude of the Mouth of the River Kovima; of the whole coast of the Tshutski, to East Cape; and of the Islands in the Eastern Ocean, stretching to the American Coast. London, 1802. P 161; Veniaminov I. Notes on the Islands of the Unalaska Division; Weyer E. M.: 1) An Aleutian Burial // Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History XXXI(III). The American Museum of Natural History/ New York City, 1929. P 228238; 2) Archaeological material from the village site at Hot Springs, Port Moller, Alaska // Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History of Natural History, XXXI(IV). The American Museum of Natural History. New York City, 1930. P 260-263..

Much of the records describe burials, probably less than 1,000 years old. Unfortunately little is known about the first approximately 8,000 years of Unangan burial practices. This is a product of logistic problems in identifying ancient burials, which for years have been exposed to a very austere environment.

Excavations and Collections. 1870-1945

Unangan mortuary practices have been studied by many scholars. Alfonse Pinart (1872) Pinart A. Catalogue des collections rapporte de Exposees dans le Museed' Histoire. Paris, 1872. explored caves in the Shumagin island group and on Amoknak Island, Unalaska Hrdlicka A.: 1) Exploration of Mummy Caves in the Aleutian Islands. Part I. Previous Knowledge of such Caves. Original Explorations. The Scientific Monthly, vol. 52. January 1941. P. 8-9; 2) The Aleutian

and Commander Islands and their Inhabitants. The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology. Philadelphia, 1945. P. 403; Jochelson W Archaeological Investigations in the Aleutian Islands. Washington, 1925. P. 21.. William Dall, during a geographical and hydrographic survey of the Aleutian Islands between 1871 and 1873, located several settlement sites and burial caves on Unalaska, Atka, Adak, Amchitka and Attu islands and in 1874 secured the accession of 12 bundles of human mummified remains from the Warm Cave on Kagamil Island Hrdlicka A. Exploration of Mummy Caves in the Aleutian Islands. Part I; Hunt D. Aleutian Remains at the Smithsonian Institution // To the Aleutian and Beyond. The Anthropology of William S. Laughlin / eds B. Frohlich, A. B. Harper, R. Gilberg. Copenhagen, 2002. P. 139-140. (Publications of The National Museum. Ethnographical Series, Vol. 20).. The mummies were collected by Captain E. Hennig of the Alaska Commercial Company in 1874 Dall W On the Remains of Later Pre-Historic Man obtained from Caves in the Catherina Archipelago, Alaska Territory, and especially from the Caves of the Aleutian Islands. Washington, 1878; Hrdlicka A.: 1) Exploration of Mummy Caves in the Aleutian Islands. P 9; 2) The Aleutian and Commander Islands and their Inhabitants. P 186, 414-415; Jochelson W Archaeological Investigations in the Aleutian Islands. The Carnegie Institution of Washington. P 44-45; Laughlin W Aleuts: Survivors of the Bering Land Bridge. New York, 1980. P 99-101.. Between January 1909 and June 1910 Waldemar Jochelson excavated 13 ancient village sites and five caves on Attu, Atka, Umnak and Unalaska islands Jochelson W.: 1) Archaeological Investigations in the Aleutian Islands; 2) History, Ethnology and Anthropology of the Aleut. The Carnegie Institution Washington, Washington, 1933; Korsun S. A., Taksami N. Ch., Ushakov N. V. Treasures of the Kunstkamera. Aleuts: How they were seen by V. Iokhel'son. Photo-Laboratory. St. Petersburg, 2001.. Ales Hrdlicka Hrdlicka A. The Aleutian and Commander Islands and their Inhabitants. completed three expeditions to the Aleutian and Commander islands. In 1936, Hrdlicka surveyed and excavated settlement sites and burials on Amoknak Island (Unalaska Island), Atka, Kiska, and Kagamil islands. The following year (1937) Hrdlicka continued his work on Unalaska Island (Cernovski, Split Rock, Veselov [Wislow Island], Kashega Bay [Split Rock Island], and Amoknak Island); Umnak Island (Chaluka); Atka Island (Nazan Bay); Amlia Island; Adak Island (Bay of Waterfall, Bay of Islands); Attu Island (Chichagof Harbor); Agatu Island (McDonald Bay); Tanaga and Ilak islands (caves); and Ship Rock Island (rock shelters). Hrdlickas last expedition to the Aleutian Islands took place in 1938. Hrdlicka and his team, which included William Laughlin, visited Unalaska (Amoknak Island, Cernovski, Kashega Island); Ship Rock Island; Umnak Island (eastern coast survey, excavating Chaluka/Nikolski); Amlia Island; Kanaga Island (Kanaga Harbor); Ilak Island; Amchitka Island (Constantine Harbor); and Kagamil Island (Fig. 1).

1945 to Present (2002)

The post WWII period did not see excavation of burial grounds in the same magnitude as those carried out by Dall, Jochelson and Hrdlicka. As early as 1948, William Laughlin, on the US Coast Guard Cutter 'Northland', visited the Warm Cave on Kagamil Island, but found it 'empty' Thomas C. W. Ice is where you find it. Bloomington, 1951.; apparently Hrdlicka had done a complete `excavation' a few years earlier (in 1938). Later, between 1973 and 1975, William Laughlin and his students excavated a few burials on Chaluka (Nikolski) and on Anangula Island, and Aigner and Veltre Aigner J. S., Veltre D. W. The Distribution and Pattern of Umqan Burial on Southwest Umnak Island. P 113-127. (1976) excavated two Umqan burial structures on the southern part of Umnak Island.

Fig. 1 Aleutian Islands, Alaska. The island chain stretches for about 1,500 km (950 miles) from Port Moller on the Alaska Peninsula to Cape Wrangell on the western end of Attu Island (after [Frohlich et al., 2002, p. 90])

Around 1950, the focus of research shifted from the collection of human remains to the analysis of collections including human remains and what such information could teach us about the Unangan people.

Such analyses have strongly supported the figures of an original Unangan population of about 16,000 people, with a temporal continuity of about 9,000 years Dumond D. E., Knecht R. An Early Blade Site in the Eastern Aleutians // University of Oregon Anthropological Papers. 2001. Vol. 58. P. 9-34; Harper A. B.: 1) Secular Change and Isolate Divergence in the Aleutian Population System. Ph.D dissertation. University of Connecticut. Storrs, 1975; 2) Life Expectancy and Population Adaptation: The Aleut Centenarian Approach // The First Americans: Origins, Affinities, and Adaptations. New York, 1979. P. 309-337; Knecht R. A., Davis R. S. A Prehistoric Sequence for the Eastern Aleutians // University of Oregon Anthropological Papers. 2001. Vol. 58. P. 269-288; Knecht R. A., Davis R. S., Carver G. A. The Margaret Bay Site and Eastern Aleutian Prehistory // University of Oregon Anthropological Papers. 2001. Vol. 58. P. 269-288; Laughlin W S.: 1) Ecology and Population Structure in the Arctic // The Structure of Human Populations. Oxford, 1972; 2) Aleuts, Ecosystem, Holocene History and Siberian Origin // Science. 1975. Vol. 189 (4202). P. 507-515; 3) Aleuts: Survivors of the Bering Land Bridge.. Similarly, the uniqueness of the Unangan people and the importance of such data in the interpretation of population movements/migrations, adaptation, demography, paleopathology and much more, is attested in many publications, including: Harper and Laughlin Harper A. B., Laughlin W S. Inquiries into the Peopling of the New World: Development of Ideas and Recent Advances // A History of American Physical Anthropology, 1930-1980. New York, 1982. P. 281304.; Harper Harper A. B., Laughlin W S. Anthropologist's Anthropologist, 1919-2001 // To the Aleutian and Beyond. The Anthropology of William S. Laughlin / eds B. Frohlich, A. B. Harper, R. Gilberg. Copenhagen, 2002. P. 7-23. (Publications of The National Museum. Ethnographical Series, Vol. 20).;

Frohlich and Pedersen Frohlich B, Pedersen P. O. Secular Changes Within Arctic and Sub-Arctic Populations: A Study of 632 Mandibles from The Aleutian Islands, Alaska and Greenland // Arctic Medical Research. 1992. Vol. 51. P. 173-188.; Frohlich, Harper and Gilberg To the Aleutian and Beyond. The Anthropology ofWilliam S. Laughlin. Publications of The National Museum. Ethnographical Series. Eds B. Frohlich, A. B. Harper and R. Gilberg. Vol. 20. Copenhagen, 2002.; Laughlin Laughlin W. S.: 1) Human Migration and Permanent Occupation in the Bering Sea Area // The Bering Land Bridge. Stanford, 1967; 2) Holocene History of Nikolski Bay; Eskimo and Aleut Evolution // Folk. 1974/1975. Vol. 16-17; 3) Aleuts, Ecosystem, Holocene History and Siberian Origin // Science. 1975. Vol. 189(4202). P. 507-515; 4) Holocene History of Nikolski Bay, Alaska, and Aleut Evolution // Beringia in Cenozoic. Vladivostok, 1976. P. 492-508; 5) Aleuts: Survivors of the Bering Land Bridge; 6) Aleut Mummies: Their Significance for Longevity and Culture // Cultures of the Bering Sea Region: Papers from an International Symposium. New York, 1983.; Laughlin and Harper The First Americans: Origins, Affinities, and Adaptation. Eds W. S. Laughlin, A. B. Harper. New York, 1979.; Harper and Laughlin Harper A. B., Laughlin W. S. Inquiries into the Peopling of the New World: Development of Ideas and Recent Advances, 1982. P. 281-304.; Laughlin and Jorgensen Laughlin W. S., Jorgensen J. B. Isolate Variation in Greenlandic Eskimo Crania // Acta Genetica et Statistica Medica. 1956. Vol. 6.; Laughlin et al. Laughlin W. S., Jorgensen J. B., Frohlich B. Aleuts and Eskimos: Survivors of the Bering Land Bridge // The First Americans: Origins, Affinities, and Adaptation. New York, 1979.; Turner Turner C. G. 1) The First Americans: The Dental Evidence // National Geographic Research. 1986. Vol. 2(1). P. 37-46; 2) The Dentition of Arctic peoples. New York, 1991. and Zimmerman Zimmermann M. R. Alaskan and Aleutian Mummies // Mummies, Disease, and Ancient Cultures. Cambridge, 1998. P. 138-253..

Ethnographic Data. A Review

unangan mortuary spiritual death

The Unangans' attitude toward the dead is based on respect rather than fear Jochelson W. Archaeological Investigations in the Aleutian Islands. P. 41-42.. The Unangans preserved all deceased members of their communities from new-born to elderly and of both sexes Laughlin W. S. Aleut Mummies: Their Significance for Longevity and Culture. P. 41.. This importance of preserving every individual meant that bodies were buried in their clothing and encased in wrappings of animal tissues and woven matting to keep the remains protected Sauer M. An Account of a Geographical and Astronomical Expedition to the Northern Parts of Russia for Ascertaining the Degrees of Latitude and Longitude of the Mouth of the River Kovima; of the whole coast ofthe Tshutski, to East Cape; and ofthe Islands in the Eastern Ocean, stretching to the American Coast. London, 1802. P. 161; Hrdlicka A. Exploration of Mummy Caves in the Aleutian Islands. P. 129.. Cave and rock shelter burials, like those found on Ship Rock Island, contained naked adult bodies of both sexes wrapped in gut robes Hrdlicka A. The Aleutian and Commander Islands and their Inhabitants. P. 417.. Deceased babies and infants wore their bird skin caps, a tradition most often observed in infant burials in mummy caves of the Islands of Four Mountains Ibid. P. 80, 420, 422, 471.. Whole kayaks, paddles, and related hunting equipment were included in the burials of `kayak hunters' Dall W. H.: 1) Notes on the Pre-Historic Remains in the Aleutian Islands. P. 286; 3) On the Remains of Later Pre-Historic Man obtained from Caves in the Catherina Archipelago, Alaska Territory, and especially from the Caves of the Aleutian Islands. P. 21; Hrdlicka A. 1) Exploration of Mummy Caves in the Aleutian Islands. Pt. I. P. 15; 2) Exploration of Mummy Caves in the Aleutian Islands. Pt. II. P. 129; 3) The Aleutian and Commander Islands and their Inhabitants. P. 412, 433; Sauer M. An Account of a Geographical and Astronomical Expedition to the Northern Parts of Russia for Ascertaining the Degrees of Latitude and

Longitude of the Mouth of the River Kovima; of the whole coast of the Tshutski, to East Cape; and of the Islands in the Eastern Ocean, stretching to the American Coast. P. 161..

The bodies were preserved so that they, over time, would be accessible for visits, offerings, and consultation. Mummification was an important religious observance aimed at preserving the spiritual life of the person, following physiological death Jochelson W Archaeological Investigations in the Aleutian Islands. The Carnegie Institution of Washington. P. 41; Laughlin W. S. Aleuts: Survivors of the Bering Land Bridge. P 96-106; Laughlin W S. Aleut Mummies: Their Significance for Longevity and Culture. P 41; Veniaminov I. Notes on the Islands of the Unalaska Division..

The preservation of the deceased person could take place within the household where it was prepared, kept for up to several months, and then deposited in a cave, rock shelter, or pit burial Laughlin W. S. Aleut Mummies: Their Significance for Longevity and Culture. P. 42-43.. It has been suggested that they were placed in distant and inaccessible caves so that the body was well protected, allowing only the most courageous members of the society to visit and view the body Weyer E. M. An Aleutian Burial // Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History. Vol. 31, Pt. 3. New York, 1929. P 226.. However, according to Hrdlicka Hrdlicka A. 1) Exploration of Mummy Caves in the Aleutian Islands. Pt. I. P 21; 2) The Aleutian and Commander Islands and their Inhabitants. The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology. P 409., some caves were easily accessible to the villages that used them.

Coxe Coxe W Account of the Russian Discoveries Between Asia and America to Which Are Added the Conquest of Siberia and the History of the Transactions and Commerce Between Russia and China. P 173. and Dall Dall W. H. On the Remains of Later Pre-Historic Man obtained from Caves in the Catherina Archipelago, Alaska Territory, and especially from the Caves of the Aleutian Islands. Smithsonian Institution. P 5-6. postulated that only wealthy and important members of the society were artificially mummified.

Dismemberment was the opposite of preservation and was supposed to release the resident power in the body so that it could not harm living Aleuts Laughlin W. S. Aleut Mummies: Their Significance for Longevity and Culture. P. 44-46.. Dismemberment appears to have been practiced by the Unangans to some extent on non-Unangan bodies during the massacre of the Russian Medvedev's party in 1764 in Nikolski Laughlin W. S. Massacre at Chaluka // Polar Record. Vol. 22, no. 138. Cambridge, 1984. P 316; Laughlin W. S., Harper A. B., Laughlin S. B. Massacre: Fate of the Medvedev Promyshlenniks in an Aleut Village, 1764 AD. Paper presented at the 55^th Annual Meeting, Society for American Archaeologist, 1990.. More recently, a Nikolski Unangan named Iliodor Sokolnikoff dismembered a man who had attacked him while he was building a baidarki (Aleut kayak). The dismemberment was not carried out in anger but strictly for the purpose of protecting oneself from the malevolent power that otherwise would have remained in the body of the slain enemy Laughlin W. S. Aleut Mummies: Their Significance for Longevity and Culture. P. 45..

Additional information can be found in Ales Hrdlicka Hrdlicka A. The Aleutian and Commander Islands and their Inhabitants. The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology. publication: The Aleutians and Commander Islands, William Laughlin's Laughlin W. S. Aleuts: Survivors of the Bering Land Bridge. publication Aleuts: Survivors of the Bering Land Bridge, and in Frohlich, Harper and Gilberg To the Aleutian and Beyond. The Anthropology of William S. Laughlin. Publications of The National Museum. Ethnographical Series. Eds B. Frohlich, A. Harper, R. Gilberg. Vol. 20. Danish National Museum. Copenhagen, 2002..

Burial Types. A Review

Unangan burial practices fall into three main categories: (1) cave and rock-shelter burials, (2) house burials and charnel houses, and (3) pit burials. All three categories yield various sub-categories displaying a diversity of methods and procedures presumably related to the individual's function and social status within the Unangan community, the number of surviving relatives, the availability of suitable burial locations, and the interaction between the spirits and the living Laughlin W S. Personal Communication. University of Connecticut. Storrs, CT, 1992..

Cave and Rock-Shelter Burials

Cave and rock-shelter burials have been described Dall W H.: 1) Notes on the Pre-Historic Remains in the Aleutian Islands // Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences IV (1868-1872). The California Academy of Sciences. San Francisco, 1873. P. 283-287. P. 286; 2) On the Remains of Later Pre-Historic Man obtained from Caves in the Catherina Archipelago, Alaska Territory, and especially from the Caves of the Aleutian Islands. P 5-11; Hrdlicka A. The Aleutian and Commander Islands and their Inhabitants. The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology. P 412-417; Jochelson W. Archaeological Investigations in the Aleutian Islands. The Carnegie Institution of Washington. P 45-49; Laughlin W S.: 1) Aleuts: Survivors of the Bering Land Bridge. P 99; 2) Aleut Mummies: Their Significance for Longevity and Culture // Cultures of the Bering Sea Region: Papers from an International Symposium. P 43-44. and have, in general, been associated with the practice of artificial mummification Dall W. H.: 1) Notes on the Pre-Historic Remains in the Aleutian Islands. P 286; 2) On the Remains of Later Pre-Historic Man obtained from Caves in the Catherina Archipelago, Alaska Territory, and especially from the Caves of the Aleutian Islands. Smithsonian Institution. P. 6; Hrdlicka A. The Aleutian and Commander Islands and their Inhabitants. The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology. P 182-195; Jochelson W. Archaeological Investigations in the Aleutian Islands. The Carnegie Institution of Washington. P 42-45; Laughlin W. S.: 1) Aleuts: Survivors of the Bering Land Bridge. P 99-101; 2) Aleut Mummies: Their Significance for Longevity and Culture. P 42-44; Sauer M. An Account of a Geographical and Astronomical Expedition to the Northern Parts of Russia for Ascertaining the Degrees of Latitude and Longitude of the Mouth of the River Kovima; of the whole coast of the Tshutski, to East Cape; and of the Islands in the Eastern Ocean, stretching to the American Coast. P 161; Zimmermann M. R. Alaskan and Aleutian Mummies // Mummies, Disease, and Ancient Cultures. Cambridge, 1998. P 147-152..

Cave and shelter burials are defined as burials where the body is placed on the ground, suspended from a wall or ceiling in a protected area, or placed in a container making it suitable to keep within the household. In some cases, the mummified body was placed in a wood frame or box and hanged from a supporting system of wood so that it could be observed easily by visitors Coxe W. Account of the Russian Discoveries Between Asia and America to Which Are Added the Conquest of Siberia and the History of the Transactions and Commerce Between Russia and China. P 154-155, 173; Laughlin W. S. Aleut Mummies: Their Significance for Longevity and Culture. P 43-44; Veniaminov I. Notes on the Islands of the Unalaska Division. P 184.. In some cases, stonewalls were constructed around the body and covered with soil and turf Coxe W. Account of the Russian Discoveries Between Asia and America to Which Are Added the Conquest of Siberia and the History of the Transactions and Commerce Between Russia and China. P 173; Dall W. H. On the Remains of Later Pre-Historic Man obtained from Caves in the Catherina Archipelago, Alaska Territory, and especially from the Caves of the Aleutian Islands. P 5..

Common for all recorded shelter and cave burials is that they are located in isolated areas most often separated from settlements by a body of water (salt) and, in general, protected from the environment (Fig. 2). The accessibility was relatively easy with a nearby boat landing.

Fig. 2 The “Warm Cave” on the southwestern end of Kagamil Island in the `Islands of the Four Mountains' [Frohlich et al., 2002, p. 91]

House Burials and Charnel Houses

At times the body of a deceased person was placed within the household until a suitable and permanent resting place could be either located or constructed Dall W H. On the Remains of Later Pre-Historic Man obtained from Caves in the Catherina Archipelago, Alaska Territory, and especially from the Caves of the Aleutian Islands. P. 6-7; Laughlin W S. Aleut Mummies: Their Significance for Longevity and Culture. P. 42-43.. In some instances, the deceased was interred in the household dwelling (Barabara), either in a grave dug into the floor or in a covered niche within the wall structure Dall W. H.: 1) Notes on the Pre-Historic Remains in the Aleutian Islands. P. 284; 2) On Succession in the Shell-Heaps of then Aleutian Islands. P. 84; 3) On the Remains of Later Pre-Historic Man obtained from Caves in the Catherina Archipelago, Alaska Territory, and especially from the Caves of the Aleutian Islands. P. 7; Laughlin W S. Aleut Mummies: Their Significance for Longevity and Culture. P. 41-42.. At other times, an entire house was used for the disposal of deceased individuals, thus turning such structures into “charnel houses”.

House Burials

House burials have been described by Jochelson Jochelson W Archaeological Investigations in the Aleutian Islands. P. 49-52. and may constitute a major part of the burials recovered by Hrdlicka on Attu, Agattu, Umnak and Unalaska islands in 1936, 1937, and 1938 Hrdlicka A. The Aleutian and Commander Islands and their Inhabitants. The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology. P. 211-402, 420-423.. Unfortunately, the lack of excavation records prevents us from separating these structures into house or pit burials.

Pit Burials

Pit burials have been identified outside house structures and within, or in close vicinity of a village site. Unfortunately, very few controlled and well-documented excavations have been conducted in areas where such burials are present. We do know that these burials are quite common Aigner J. S., Veltre D. W. The Distribution and Pattern of Umqan, 1976. Burial on Southwest Umnak Island // Arctic Anthropology. Vol. XIII (2). Madison, 1976. P. 127; Hrdlicka A. The Aleutian and Commander Islands and their Inhabitants. The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology. P. 364-381, 411-412; Jochelson W Archaeological Investigations in the Aleutian Islands. P. 49-53; Laughlin W S. Aleut Mummies: Their Significance for Longevity and Culture. P. 41-42.. For example, the occupational site at Chaluka, in present-day Nikolski, on Umnak Island, has yielded numerous burials that, in certain cases, could have been located within and outside proven house structures Hrdlicka A. The Aleutian and Commander Islands and their Inhabitants. The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology. P. 411; Jochelson W. Archaeological Investigations in the Aleutian Islands. P. 4952; Laughlin W. S. Aleut Mummies: Their Significance for Longevity and Culture. P. 41-42; Weyer E. M. Archaeological material from the village site at Hot Springs, Port Moller, Alaska. Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History. Vol. 31, pt. 4. The American Museum of Natural History. New York City, 1930. P. 261-263...

The construction of a water line in Nikolski Village in May and June of 1974 crossed the Chaluka mound and yielded 11 burials of which none could be positively associated with known house structures. However, the fact that the Chaluka mound originally was and still is an occupational site strongly supports previous observations that some Unangan burials were located within or near houses. Such houses (barabaras) could be dwellings of living Unangan or structures constructed chiefly for the purpose of disposing of the deceased Laughlin W. S. Personal Communication. University of Connecticut. Storrs, CT, 1992..

Umqan burials are pit burials located behind a village, most often positioned on a hill, and are therefore often exposed to strong erosion. Umqans are unique by being located on hillsides and with man-made trenches surrounding the burial pits Frohlich, B., Laughlin S. B. Unangan Mortuary Practices and the Umqan Burials on Anangula Island, Aleutian Islands, Alaska. To the Aleutian and Beyond. P. 89-119. (Fig. 3).

Uncommon Cases

The variety of burials found within each of the three main categories includes a small number of unusual burials, most of them found within the Chaluka settlement (Nikolski Village) Frohlich B. Aleut Settlement Distribution on Adak, Kagalaska and Attu Islands, Alaska.. For example, the following unusual cases have been reported: burials above and

Fig. 3 “Umqan” on Anangula Island. Burials are located within the “V trench” [Frohlich et al., 2002, p. 96]

below the same whale scapula Hrdlicka A. The Aleutian and Commander Islands and their Inhabitants. The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology. P. 368.; burials in slab-stone boxes Laughlin W S. Aleut Mummies: Their Significance for Longevity and Culture. P. 42.; burials in stone boxes (so far identified and excavated only on hills near the Chaluka mound); and the use of smaller houses for single burials, essentially a conical chamber built of logs or posts and covered with sod Laughlin W S.: 1) Ibid.; 2) Personal Communication. University of Connecticut. Storrs, CT, 1992.. Such traditions fall within the aforementioned three main categories and attest to the great variability found within Unangan mortuary practices.

Controlled and well-documented archaeological excavations of Unangan burial structures are limited and have focused on a few Umqan excavations Aigner J. S., Veltre D. W. The Distribution and Pattern of Umqan, 1976. Burial on Southwest Umnak Island. P. 113-127; Aigner S. J, Veltre D. W., Fullem B, Veltre M. An Infant Umqan Burial from Southwest Umnak Island // Arctic Anthropology Vol. XIII (2). Madison, 1976. P. 128-131; Frohlich B. The Evidence from Umqan burials on change within the Aleut population // Abstract. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. Vol. 41. The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology, Philadelphia, 1974. P. 480; Frohlich B. S., Laughlin B. Unangan Mortuary practices and the Umqan Burials on Anangula Island, Aleutian Islands, Alaska // To the Aleutian and Beyond. The Anthropology of William S. Laughlin / eds B. Frohlich, A. B. Harper, R. Gilberg. Copenhagen, 2O02. P. 89-119. (Publications of The National Museum. Ethnographical Series, Vol. 20)..

Mortuary Practices

The purpose of studying burials is to reconstruct mortuary practices. The knowledge of mortuary practices combined with other archaeological records, such as historical and ethnographical records, creates a larger body of information allowing the development of inferential arguments.

The archaeological record does not specifically lead to a complete understanding of the intricate spiritual world, as the Unangan people see it. Neither do ethnographical records derived from explorers, hunters, traders, and the Russian Orthodox clergy. We do not have any records or knowledge of ethnographers or of any scientists actually living with and recording Unangan traditions without, at the same time being part of a foreign system, imposing new traditions and beliefs. Thus, our reconstruction of Unangan spirituality and how its relation to burial practices, or vice versa becomes a process of reasoning based on decent and reliable `evidence. Our evidence is the accumulative volume of information consisting of the archaeological, ethnographical, historical, and physical anthropological records. The evidence helps us to understand Unangan burial practices, how the Unangan relate to death, and how this relationship is reflected in the various ways the biologically deceased body is treated, respected, feared, and/or ignored.

We argue that (1) Russian control over the Unangan people was never as absolute as indicated by Russian priests and administrators, (2) the early attempt to convert all Unangans to the Russian Orthodox Church failed, and (3) the study of Unangan burial data suggests that traditional Unangan mortuary practices continued well into the 20^th century. The result is that some present Unangan people, especially the `elders, may possess direct knowledge, and interest in traditional behavior and especially traditional Unangan spirituality.

Russian jurisdiction over the Unangan

At the time when the Russian American Company was established in 1799, Russian fur hunters and traders (promyshlenniks) had successfully eliminated the greater part of the marine mammals and sea otters in the waters off the Aleutian Islands.

The Russians gradually started to move their interest further toward the American northwest coast Fedorova S. G. The Russian Population in Alaska and California. Late 18^th Century -- 1867. The Limestone Press, Kingston, Ontario, 1973. P. 105-106, 178.. In less than 60 years, beginning in 1741 when Vitus Bering and Alexei Cherikov first discovered the Aleutian Islands, the number of Unangan people decreased from an estimated 15,000 individuals to about 5,000. Svetlana Fedorova Ibid. P. 275-279. reported over natives in 1799, a number which includes all native groups in Russian America. In 1880, the number of Unangans had decreased to a little more than 2,000 Ibid. P. 278-279..

The decrease in the Unangan population is a product of several factors. The introduction of diseases such as leprosy, smallpox, syphilis and possibly consumption (tuberculosis) certainly is partially to blame JonsdottirB. CT Scanning of Aleutian Mummies // To the Aleutian and Beyond. To the Aleutian and Beyond. The Anthropology of William S. Laughlin / eds B. Frohlich, A. B. Harper, R. Gilberg. Copenhagen, 2002. P. 155-167. (Publications of The National Museum. Ethnographical Series, Vol. 20); Ortner D. J. Identification of Pathological Conditions in Human Skeletal Remains. New York, 2003.. It is also likely that the Unangan population by its early exposure to smallpox, developed biological resistance or immunity against such diseases over time. Thus smallpox may not have been the `big killer' although epidemics were reported by Ivan Veniaminov in 1807, 1808, 1830 and 1838, which killed mostly young and healthy men Veniaminov I. Notes on the Islands of the Unalaska Division. P. 257-258.. The presence of immunity against such diseases and/or survival is supported by the finds of smallpox lesions in some Unangan skeletal material Ortner D. J. Identification of Pathological Conditions in Human Skeletal Remains. P 334-336., which suggests that the person(s) lived with the disease for some time, survived and could have died from other causes.

Primarily, the decrease in population size is due to the deliberate attempts by Russian promyshlenniks to kill, annihilate, rape and forcefully relocate Unangan hunters in order to benefit the Russian fur business. Even with the introduction of advanced Russian technology, the hunting techniques applied and developed by the Unangan for thousands of years were most likely still far superior. The Russians capitalized on these skills by removing Unangan hunters from their homes, forcing them to act as hunters, significantly enhancing their own fur trade. Such events undoubtedly increased the mortal effect of Russian introduced diseases, by, among other things, eradicating the traditional Unangan family support system.

The Introduction and Influence of the Russian Orthodox Church

The Russians designated the first small chapel in Nikolski between 1795 and 179 9 Laughlin W S. Aleuts: Survivors of the Bering Land Bridge. P. 79.. Chapels were built in Unalaska in 1808 and in Atka in 1806. Churches were established in Nikolski in 1826, in Unalaska in 1825, and in Atka in 1826 Veniaminov I. Notes on the Islands of the Unalaska Division. P. 233-239.. In general, few Russian priests arrived in Russian America before 1820. A total of four priests are recorded to have been in Russian America around 1840, a number, which had increased to about 11 by 1860, not including about 16 deacons, sextons and sacristans Fedorova S. G. The Russian Population in Alaska and California. P. 261-262..

With the exception of the eminent priest Ivan Veniaminov, who resided in Unalaska between 1824 and 1834 Veniaminov I. Notes on the Islands of the Unalaska Division., it appears that the effect of the Russian Orthodox church was limited Fedorova S. G. The Russian Population in Alaska and California. P. 261-267.. If the church was effective to any degree in converting Unangan people and other native American population groups, such effectiveness would have been evident only at administrative centers including Kodiak, Sitka (Novo-Arkhangel'sk), Unalaska and to a lesser extent Nikolski and Atka.

The number of Russians in `Alaska, including traders, administrators and church officials ranges from 225 (in 1799) to the maximum recorded number of 823 (in 1839). However, the average number is around 600. The majority settled and lived in Kodiak and Sitka. In 1860, for example, 519 out of 595 Russian settlers, or 87 %, lived in Sitka and in Kodiak Ibid. P. 273, 275-279.. It is unlikely that about 75 individuals, mostly consisting of promyshlenniks, could have had any major cultural and spiritual impact on native populations ranging from Attu island in the West to the interior of the Alaska mainland, and from the north slope and down south to Fort Ross in northern California. The records tell us that Unangan people were converted in great numbers, but referring to Gerry Berreman's paper on Aleut Shamanism Berreman G. D. Aleut Shamanism in the twentieth Century? An Assessment of Evidence. P. 25-50. this could easily be misleading: `Those whose task it has been to obliterate traditional religion have an even greater investment in denying all traces of its persistence than do those they sought to convert who, by their words and behavior, expose the clerics' imperfect accomplishment of their goal' Ibid. P. 29..

We argue that traditional Unangan spirituality continued after the arrival of Russian promyshlenniks in 1741, after the establishment of the Russian American Company in 1799, after the sale of Russian America to USA in 1867, and most likely into the 20th century.

Biological and Archaeological Evidence

We are using data from previous studies on Unangan human remains to support our ideas and hypotheses. Some of the skeletal remains are presently curated in the Department of Anthropology at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC and have been collected from Ship Rock, Chernovsky, Kashega, Unalaska, Unga, Chaluka, and Okee Bay Frцhlich B. The Aleut-Eskimo Mandible. PhD Dissertation. University of Connecticut, Storrs, 1979; Frцhlich B., Pedersen P O. Secular Changes Within Arctic and Sub-Arctic Populations: A Study of 632 Mandibles from The Aleutian Islands, Alaska and Greenland // Arctic Medical Research. Vol. 51: Nordic Council for Arctic Medical Research. Oulu, 1992. P. 173-188; Hunt D. Aleutian Remains at the Smithsonian Institution. P. 137-153..

Recently we have focused on the study of 36 mummified bodies from the Warm Cave on Kagamil Island Hunt D. Aleutian Remains at the Smithsonian Institution. P. 137-153; Jonsdottir B. CT Scanning of Aleutian Mummies. P. 155-167.. The study included detailed descriptions of exterior surfaces and extensive study of the interior using nondestructive and noninvasive analytical methods such as computed tomography and traditional x-ray technologies Jonsdottir B. CT Scanning of Aleutian Mummies. P. 155-167..

The antiquity of the Unangan mummies from the Warm Cave on Kagamil Island has been debated for a long time. Our research has suggested that some of the bundles and `packs' containing human remains may be much younger than previously believed. We base this on a variety of observations, including (1) descriptions of find locations by William Dall Dall W. H.: 1) Notes on the Pre-Historic Remains in the Aleutian Islands. P. 283-287; 2) On the Remains of Later Pre-Historic Man obtained from Caves in the Catherina Archipelago, Alaska Territory, and especially from the Caves of the Aleutian Islands. and Ales HrdliCka Hrdlicka A.: 1) Exploration of Mummy Caves in the Aleutian Islands. Pt. I; 2) The Aleutian and Commander Islands and their Inhabitants. The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology., the preservation and especially the weathering of the wrapping material, (2) the study of diseases and anomalies found in the skeletal remains and in the mummified soft tissue, and (3) the archaeological and ethnographical records.